Global stocks rise after surprise U.S. data, bonds fall

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, April 22, 2013.

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A man walks through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange August 5, 2011.

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Traders work at their desks in front of the DAX board at the Frankfurt stock exchange April 12, 2013.

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The logo of the Tokyo Stock Exchange is seen as cherry blossoms in full bloom in Tokyo April 11, 2012.

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Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) employees work at the bourse at TSE in Tokyo April 24, 2013.

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A visitor takes pictures in front of an electronic board showing stock prices at Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo April 24, 2013.

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NEW YORK World stock markets rose and bond prices fell on Thursday as data indicated the U.S. labor market remains resilient despite recent signs of slower growth, while earnings that are beating lowered expectations helped buoy investor sentiment.

Wall Street opened higher, following gains in Europe, where markets were lifted on growing expectations that the European Central Bank will soon cut interest rates.

A report from the U.S. Labor Department said the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week by a surprisingly large 16,000.

The report appeared to counter several weeks of signs that U.S. economic activity softened in March and early April, a phenomenon that economists have dubbed the spring swoon because it has occurred the past two years.

Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes fell as much as 7/32 in price in reaction to the jobless claims figures. They last traded 2/32 lower to yield 1.7097 percent.

Recent weak global economic data, including record-high jobless figures from Spain on Thursday, has sparked expectations of more stimulus from central banks.

"Overall, investors see the potential for new measures and the distortion of global valuations as a reason to hold dogmatically onto their equities," said Guy Foster, head of portfolio strategy at Brewin Dolphin in London.

"Shares are seen as a yield asset class with risks skewed to the upside. Bonds have lost their appeal for the opposite reason."

"Investors coming into this earnings season were quite fearful, so even modestly positive news becomes great news, and that is what we've experienced for the last several days," said Lawrence Creatura, an equity portfolio manager at Federated Investors in Rochester, New York.

"It's probably a little early in the earnings season to talk about aggregate results, but it's important to recognize that earnings are growing and so higher prices are deserved," Creatura said.

Expectations of an ECB rate cut boosted shares and kept the euro near a three-week low to the dollar. Sources involved in the deliberations have told Reuters that momentum is building for monetary action to help the recession-hit euro zone.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 index of top European shares rose 0.74 percent to close at ,200.64, near its peak of 1,209.05 it hit in mid-March.